Handling 120 film when processing

[Chris L]

I've read comments suggesting that care should be taken not to handle touch the film surface if possible when loading it onto the dev tank spool. Is the main problem oils in the skin getting onto the emulsion? If so is there any advantage to using latex gloves to do this?

Cheers,
Chris

 

[fixedimage]

Where do you load?

I load in a changing bag and certainly wouldn't want the lack of sensitivity and 'feel' that'd come from wearing gloves.

Might not be so bad if you load in a darkroom but if you do that then you're probably less likely to accidentally handle the film anyway.

Only time you really need to handle the film surface would be to pull it into the spool to start it and then you'd only be holding the first 1/2 inch or so of film which shouldn't be exposed anyway.

 

[TheBigYin]

agreed - the only bits of the film you touch, don't have a picture on them, so unless you really screw up the loading, it's not a big deal. I usually wash my hands before loading the film, finishing with rinsing under the cold tap for a while - primarilly because I've got really warm hands, and they get all horrible and sweaty/sticky in the changing bag. Cooling 'em off this way seems to help a bit, but as always YMMV

 

[Mahoneyd187]

Loading's a bitch at first, good luck with it fella

 

[TheBigYin]

Do I take it you're getting ready to process some film Chris? Want me to call 'round and run through processing the first roll with you sometime ?

 

[Chris L]

Where do you load?

I load in a changing bag and certainly wouldn't want the lack of sensitivity and 'feel' that'd come from wearing gloves.

Might not be so bad if you load in a darkroom but if you do that then you're probably less likely to accidentally handle the film anyway.

Only time you really need to handle the film surface would be to pull it into the spool to start it and then you'd only be holding the first 1/2 inch or so of film which shouldn't be exposed anyway.

agreed - the only bits of the film you touch, don't have a picture on them, so unless you really screw up the loading, it's not a big deal. I usually wash my hands before loading the film, finishing with rinsing under the cold tap for a while - primarilly because I've got really warm hands, and they get all horrible and sweaty/sticky in the changing bag. Cooling 'em off this way seems to help a bit, but as always YMMV

As our bathroom has all internal walls and is accessed from our hallway which also has no windows it makes an ideal place to load the film onto the spool and into the dev tank. It's too small to have sufficient work space to work with the chemicals afterwards though but (as long as I've understood correctly) once the film's loaded into the tank with the inner lid on then the rest can be done in daylight?

I've only used one roll as a guinea pig so far to practice the loading so can't recall for sure if I touched the film much when seperating it from the backing paper but after that I've only been touching the first bit with the making tape on to feed it between the ball bearings so sounds like I'm doing it ok

I've got to the point where I can load the film onto the spool blindfolded without any mishaps though no doubt it will suddenly seem a lot more tricky when I know it's not a dummy run with no pressure

I also have very warm hands which was one of the main reasons I was worried about handling the film too much.

Loading's a bitch at first, good luck with it fella

Cheers matey. I'll be sure to post some dodgy scans of my first attempts

Do I take it you're getting ready to process some film Chris? Want me to call 'round and run through processing the first roll with you sometime ?

That's really good of you Mark. I'd really appreciate that.

Miles Whitehead has emailed this afternoon to say the Rollei's shutter is fixed and the camera's been serviced so it should be back with me in another day or two, ready to put a roll of film through

 

[TheBigYin]

Give me a shout when you're ready to have a crack at it Chris... should be able to get a pass out for a couple of hours to run through things, and it's always easier having seen it done...

 

[grahamsewelluk]

practice with a film that is already processed but not cut into lengths so that you can get a feel for the technique with the lights on. Then progress to lights-off before doing it for real.

 

[Chris L]

Give me a shout when you're ready to have a crack at it Chris... should be able to get a pass out for a couple of hours to run through things, and it's always easier having seen it done...

Will do, cheers

practice with a film that is already processed but not cut into lengths so that you can get a feel for the technique with the lights on. Then progress to lights-off before doing it for real.

Thanks for the advice Graham. I've been practicing with a roll that had been used in a camera that I later found out that the shutter was sticky, before getting it processed